Home > Georg von Küchler

Küchler led the German 18th Army in 1940 in the invasion of neutral Holland and was able to defeat the much smaller Dutch army and continued on into Belgium. Küchler's army defeated the Belgians, took Antwerp and then moved into France. The 18th Army ended this phase of the war at Pas de Calais. His role in this campaign earned him the rank of colonel general.

The colonel general became commander of Army Group North after Field Marshall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb was relieved of his command. Küchler, unlike his predecessor Leeb, was seen as politically compliant and was liked by HitlerAdolf Hitler ( April 20, 1889 April 30, 1945) was the Fuhrer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. In that capacity he was Chancellor of Germany, head of government, and head of state, ruling as a, who hoped that Küchler would succeed where he believed that Leeb had failed.

Küchler commanded Army Group North from December 1941 through January 1944 but was unable to achieve any victory at Leningrad. Küchler maintained the siege of LeningradThe Siege of Leningrad (today Saint Petersburg), during World War II, lasted from September 8, 1941, to January 18, 1944. Nazi Germany invaded Russia in Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941 — for the Soviet Union, marking the beginning of the Great Patri, launching massive bombardments in an attempt to intimidate the Red ArmyThis article is about the armed forces of the Soviet Union. See Red Army Faction for the German militant group; Japanese Red Army for the Japanese militant group; and People's Liberation Army for the Chinese Red Army. Red Army and RKKA are abbreviations f into surrender. On June 30June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 184 days remaining. Events 1651 Battle of Beresteczko ends with Polish victory 1864 Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for "public use, resort and, 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass Hitler promoted Küchler to Field Marshal ( GeneralfeldmarschallThe General Field Marshal (or simply Field Marshal in German Generalfeldmarschall or Feldmarschall was a rank in the Prussian Army which could be granted to active officers only in the war. In the Prussian Army and in the Third Reich the rank had several). In January 1944 SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR ( Russian: ; tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik (SSSR) also called the Soviet Union ( ; tr. Sovetsky Soyuz , was a state in much of the northern region of Eurasia that existed from 1922 until 1 troops were able to completely break the blockade of Leningrad, and Küchler was sacked when he demanded the withdrawal necessary to save Army Group North.

At the end of World War II Küchler was arrested by American occupation authorities and tried by a military court in 1948. Küchler was sentenced to twenty years in prison for crimes against humanity but only served eight after being released in 1953 due to illness and old age.